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Gallery Place Condo Project Raising Eyebrows
By
Mary Clare Fleury
Published Friday, January 05, 2007
Here's a first look at the controversial luxury condo-church development going up in Gallery Place. The Post reported last week that developer PN Hoffman is partnering with the 140-year-old First Congressional Church of Christ to redevelop its outdated property at 945 G St., NW, and add 140 luxury condominium units above it. First Church is most well-known for its free meals for the homeless, so the million-dollar condo building-soup kitchen partnership has raised eyebrows among residents and sparked debate on the Internet. One anonymous poster on neighborhood blog Gallery Place Living wrote, “I am strongly in favor of mixed-use projects in Penn Quarter that combine living and community service space—whether social service, arts, theater, libraries.” Another countered that, “it seems kind of gross to sit in your luxury condo or lounge by the pool while you watch the huddled masses line up below for something to eat.” The church will occupy the ground-level space. In the architectural rendering above, the church entrance will be on G Street, next to the Martin Luther King library (shown at right); the condo entrance will be on 10th Street (pictured at left); and the meal program entrance will be behind the building on G Place.
Many are wondering if Washingtonians will spend $1 million to live above a church that feeds the homeless, particularly in today's saturated condo market. Considering the great location and the edgy, modern design, I bet they will.
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Comments
You must be kidding.
The problem is not feeding the homeless, itis the constant loitering by some of the homeless infront of te library as well as the open air drug market and violence. Everyone who lives in the neighborhood goes out of their way to avoid that block. Why are people sugarcoating this proposal and avoiding the need to find real solutions to the homeless problems in DC?
Suppose they build the condos over the church. When things get hairy with homeless loiterers and the inevitable assault on a resident of the condos, what is going to happen next? Do residents tolerate therdop in home prices? Are the police going to create a stable presence (they don't know even though a new luxury condo was built across the street)?
Posted by: Possible residents at First Church,
The violence that i am seeing in Logan and U St is not caused by the homeless. Crime and the homeless problem should not be confused. The tie between poverty and crime might exist but the young guys that i am saw pull a gun and rob two people coming home from the bars on a saturday night were definately not homeless.
The problem with the homeless is the loitering not crime. It makes people uncomfortable to see the dramatic inequity of income. The inability for the local economy to create jobs for young men is more of a factor for crime. The men that have been arrested for recent attacks have homes.
Posted by: wray,
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Posted at
12:00 AM/ET, 01/05/2007 in
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